


Hello, He Says

by moodyme



Series: Pynch Week 2019 [1]
Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: ??? - Freeform, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Fluff, Gansey and Ronan are brothers by affection, M/M, Pynch Week 2019, Soulmates, does this count as
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-23
Updated: 2019-09-23
Packaged: 2020-10-25 00:34:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20715146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moodyme/pseuds/moodyme
Summary: The first time Ronan says the name 'Adam', he is four years old and he asks his Dad to repeat part of the Bible story he is telling them. Across his shoulders, the word 'Soulmate' spreads, painfully, in a beautiful script.Soulmate AU where the first time you say your soulmates name, you get a tattoo that represents your relationship.Pynch Week 2019 - Day 1: Soulmate AU





	Hello, He Says

**Author's Note:**

> The idea for this take on the soulmate AU is from [this](https://ammo-never-runs-out-of-knives.tumblr.com/post/161168172257/new-soulmate-aus) Tumblr post.

"Ronan," Dad says, patting the place next to him, "Come sit."

He does, picking his way carefully over the toy strewn room. He had accidentally stepped on a Lego that afternoon, and he was still being cautious about where he walked, not wanting a repeat of the painful ordeal. Once he is comfortably snuggled up next to his Dad on the couch, and Declan is sitting on his Dad's other side, and Matty and his Mom are snuggled in the armchair next to them, Dad opens the old family Bible. Dad always says it like 'The old family Bible', a little softer, a little like he says his Mom's name, like it's precious and well loved. It's an old thing, all white and gold, and there are names scrawled in it, names he can't read yet, but that he sometimes catches Dad tracing with just the tips of his fingers.

His Dad open the bible to somewhere early in the book, and Ronan thinks it looks kind of silly with most of the pages all gathered on his side of Dad and so very few on Declan's side. Soon enough, he begins listening to his Dad, at the way his deep voice tells the story, bringing life into it. His Dad says that Adam named all the animals, and that interests him. He wonders if he gave them names like '_Dog_' and '_Cow_' and '_Chicken_', or if he named them like '_Alfred_' or '_Jerome'_ or '_Carl_'. The question bothers him for the entire reading. 

When his Dad is finished and his Mom leads them in praying an Ave, Ronan says, "Dad, how did Adam na-" He's cut-off by the pain that spreads over his shoulders and causes him to hiss. It hurts, not like the Lego had, sharp and quick, but like how his knee hurts after scrapping it. Steady and lightly burning and with a dull kind of ache.

He looks up, tears beginning to form in his eyes from the unexpectedness of the pain, and see's his Dad concerned and surprised and happy all in one, and his Mom - bright and loving and cheery.

They sit him down and take off his shirt to look at his shoulder and tell him that he has a soulmate. He doesn't really know what it means, has heard adults talk and joke about it like a million other things. But they explain, gently, that the word means there is someone, an Adam named someone, out there that is his special person. Just like Mom is Dad's special person, and he is her's. Then, they show him their words, on his Dad's shoulder, in block letters, and on his Mom's ankle, in what his Dad says, laughing, is in chicken-scratch.

Ronan thinks it all sounds grand, like a fun story or a good movie. He spends some time looking for his Adam. There are three in his Parish; an old man, an even older man, and a boy Declan's age. If he had to choose, he would choose the one that was Declan's age, but also he hates that boy because he once made him spill his tea after Mass and the Priest had scolded Ronan for it.

He thinks about it an awful lot in the first week, a lot the second, only sometimes the third, and rarely ever the fourth. It becomes a piece of intrinsic knowledge, there sort of every where he goes, the whole space of his shoulders covered with it. He has a soulmate. His name is Adam. But. But he is four years old, and there's baby Matty to cuddle and chickens to chase and Declan to play Hot Wheels and Legos with and his Mom to pat his hair and his Dad's stories to listen to.

And he kind of, well. He doesn't _forget, _he just lets it fade warmly and comfortably into the background.

He starts thinking about it a little more when he is thirteen and discovers boys are pretty and nice to look at and aren't at all terrible except when they are.

He thinks about it even more when he meets Gansey, bright eyed and fourteen and in the chair next to him on the first of school. He says, "Hello, Ronan, I'm Gansey and-" then he pauses in confusion and obvious pain and Ronan says "Are you okay, Gansey?" and then _he_ pauses in confusion because his forearm is burning and he rucks up the sleeve of his uniform and there it is. The word '_Brother_' in round and looping letters. He looks to Gansey, who has taken off his shoe and sock and is peering at the top of his foot. He can see the same word there, in a similar font.

"Well, I say," Gansey says.

"Holy crap," Ronan says.

And they don't become best friends that day, or that week, even. But they learn each other, their hates and dislikes, fears and dreams, likes and loves. Ronan learns that Gansey died as a child and was miraculously revived, that he has a fear of wasps because of what they can do to him, that he loves the color orange, and dreams of becoming an archaeologist like Indiana Jones. Gansey learns about Ronan's family, how he likes pecan pie but only the gooey bits and not the nuts, and how he helps take care of the animals, and how he had always been home schooled and he was a little nervous being in an actual school. He also learns about Adam, and the tattoo across his shoulders.

"It's beautiful," Gansey tells him one night during a sleep over, "Haven't you ever used two mirrors to look at it yourself?"

"I know it's there, that's enough," Ronan breathes. He can't explain it, doesn't have words big or grand or wonderful enough to even try, but the knowing that it's there has become this big thing that has settled all around and through him.

He's not in a hurry, exactly, to find his Adam, because he knows he will some day. Statistics be damned.

It was a sure thing. It would happen. And he was fine with the waiting.

Time passes. His Dad dies. Then his Mom. And Declan is an asshole. And he, in the words of Gansey, makes some poor life choices. He makes some poor life choices for a few years straight.

He meets several Adam's during this time. It's not like it matters. They aren't _his_ Adam so he doesn't care. 

He doesn't care about a lot, for a while, except for Gansey and Matty, and, sometimes, the Adam that is out there.

More time passes, and Gansey somehow bribes Aglionby into letting him graduate. Somehow bribes his University into letting him in, despite his lack of both grades and desire for attending. While there, Ronan takes as many bullshit classes as he can. Classes that "Explore the use of non-soulmate tattoos and the role they play in aesthetic and culture" and "Relates the historical and literary context of the Germanic heroic epic poem Walter of Aquitaine" and "Show how 'I' in pre-modern literature is not a vehicle for self-representation, but an archetype of the human".

He takes these classes to serve a two-fold purpose. They confuse Gansey and piss off Declan.

It's great.

And then it's very not great.

Because Gansey, somehow, meets a multitude of Adam's, and insists on introducing each and every one of them to Ronan.

"I'll meet him on my own," Ronan growls after the sixth time he had met up with Gansey for lunch only to find a lackluster Adam-named person waiting with him.

"I know that," Gansey says, "I just- I don't have a soulmate, and I- I want you to find yours."

Ronan can't help but soften, just a little, at that. Remembers his friend spending hours, saying each name in a baby name book, hoping it word work. Ava and Alexei, Samuel and Sarah, Muhammad and Monica. None of them had caused a painful tattoo to appear anywhere on his body. "I guess I don't have a soulmate," He had laughed, but it was all shaky and Ronan hated it.

"Man," Ronan sighs, thinks about saying a dozen things before he settles on snaking his arm around Gansey's shoulders, tightening it around his neck, and bringing him down into a headlock. It works better than his words. Gansey stops introducing him to random Adams.

"Parrish said-" Gansey says.

"Parrish did-" Gansey laughs.

"Parrish had-" Gansey sighs.

Ronan knows that '_Parrish _' is also an _'Adam_ '. Neither of them acknowledge this fact. Both of them ignore it, have already filed it away as an impossible thing. Ronan had been the one who insisted Gansey stop introducing any more Adams to him. Even if it was as just a friend.

But then, Gansey comes floating in the door one day, dazed and joyous and shocked. 

"Her name is Blue," He says, all breathy and happy, "Her name is Blue, and that's not even a name."

Ronan doesn't know what that means. He had sent Gansey off to meet up with Parrish and his friend, and he comes back possibly concussed. Or with brain damage.

"Blue," Gansey sighs.

"What the fuck?" Ronan asks. He wants to rummage for a thermometer in the bathroom. He knows he won't find one, but it would give him something to do. Something that would be maybe helpful to Gansey in his obvious time of need.

"Her name is Blue," Gansey says again, like if he keeps saying the same nonsense over and over it'll somehow start making sense to Ronan. It doesn't.

"Okay," Ronan growls, lets himself feel frustrated, "Who's name is Blue?"

"Her!" Gansey exclaims.

"Her who!" Ronan nearly shouts.

"Adam's her her!" Gansey says, like that explains anything. He huffs then, and pops the buttons of his polo so he can tug his collar down. Over his heart, in the center of his chest, he sees it. Gansey has found his soulmate, has spoken her name.

"Blue?" Ronan says.

"Blue," Gansey repeats.

"How? I know you've said fucking _blue_ before," Ronan says.

"That's just it," Gansey tells him, pure excitement bleeding from his tone all over the place, "I've always said it as just another word, as just a color. I didn't know it could be a name. But when Parrish introduced us, I said it and I just knew-"

"You mean it hurt like a bitch,"

"-Yes. Well, no. It hurt, but. That's not. Anyway. And she said my name and it just. Her's is on the inside of her lip, by the way, in case you were wondering."

"I really wasn't," Ronan says.

He meets her. Gansey's Blue. All five feet of her, covered in rags of various, clashing, colors. She is everything Gansey isn't; fierce and sensible and wildly independent in thought and feeling. He doesn't exactly like her right away, but he can appreciate her snark. Her cutting jibes. He does like her a little, right away.

He hopes she'll be good for Gansey. 

Is surprised to find himself hoping he'll be good for her, too.

Blue starts waving Parrish over, and Ronan watches as he spots them, turns in their direction, and strides over.

Ronan makes sure he doesn't do anything stupid, like pray that maybe this Adam will be _Adam_. Because that would be dumb. And terrible. And Gansey would never let him live it down, the fact that he had in any way brought Ronan his Adam. He would be insufferable.

Parrish gets to the table, greets Blue with a smile that transforms his whole face. It's a nice smile. Objectively so. He isn't biased by hope whatsoever. Nope no-sirree, not him.

Parrish then turns to Gansey, bumps his fist with him, and okay. Maybe that makes him a little teeny tiny bit jealous, because he had realized weeks ago that Parrish, in the eyes of Gansey, was different from the dozens of others that had tried to gain his favor. Different than the Tad's and Brad's and Chad's and fucking Napoleon's that had been brushed aside in the end, like stale Cheeto crumbs. Parrish had weaseled his way into Gansey's heart and conscious in a way that Ronan couldn't help but be a little jealous. He had been the sole occupier of that much real estate in Gansey's brain and heart for a long time, and so of course he was loath to share it now, after all these years. Parrish, he knew, would not be simply brushed aside. 

He was starting to be a little more okay with that with each passing moment.

"Let me introduce you to my very good friend," Gansey says, because he never does just say '_Brother_', because that's for them only. Maybe, somewhere down the line, they can share it and everything it means to the two of them. But, for now, '_Very good friend_ ' works well enough. "Adam Parrish, meet Ronan Lynch."

Adam smiles, takes his hand.

"Hello," He says, "It's nice to met you, Ronan."

And then a crease, small, barely there, forms between his fair eyebrows. And his elegant, thin lips tug down, just a little. And Ronan thinks, 'Stop hoping for something that isn't there,'. Ronan remembers being four, remembers the pain that had accompanied his soulmate mark. Remembers being fourteen and getting the matching mark with Gansey. Both times, the pain had caused a stronger reaction than a slight creasing of the brows and a little confused downturn of the mouth. 

They order and they eat and they talk. It's about Blue and Gansey getting to know each other in a friendly, neutral, environment. But Ronan also sort of pays more attention to Adam than is strictly necessary. He notices the way he scratches at his side every so often. The way he frowns in confusion each time, like he's trying to puzzle something out but the answer slips out of his grasp each time. He also notices the way he glances at Ronan, sometimes. Even if he's talking to Blue or Gansey, he always spares a look at Ronan as well. And the same little thoughtful, confused, frown appears. Like he's trying to also figure Ronan out.

While the waiter clears away their plates and takes their orders for dessert, Adam excuses himself from the table. Ronan watches as he picks his way around the other tables to the bathroom. Blue says something then that catches his attention, and he doesn't think about Adam again until he sits, heavily, back in his seat.

All through dessert, Ronan can feel his eyes on him.

It's a unnerving.

His own eyes barely leave his sundae.

They leave, to spend the rest of the afternoon strolling in a nearby park, and it's nice. It's nice when Gansey and Blue naturally stray off on their own, caught up in a conversation that's so heavily laced with feelings that Ronan is happy to see them off. It leaves him alone with Adam, which is also nice.

"Blue always knew she had a soulmate," Adam says out of no where as they reach a tiny rose garden in the park, "She didn't know his name, but she knew he was out there."

Ronan hums, says, "Gansey didn't think he had one."

Adam says nothing to that, just continues to walk by Ronan, his hands deep in his pockets. Ronan thinks, that maybe, he should say something. Thinks maybe, it would be the worst thing to happen ever. That he has just read this whole day wrong.

Ronan had spent years making a series of poor life series, though, so he thinks, 'Fuck it, what's one more?'

"I have a soulmate," Ronan says.

"Oh," Adam says, pauses, scratches at his side again, "Oh, that's- that's cool."

"Do you?" Ronan asks, directs the question at the pink Bonica roses because he doesn't think he could bare watching Adam as he asks the question. He's too afraid he'll see something there that he doesn't want to. Non-comprehension or confusion or disgust.

"Um," Adam says, and Ronan can hear as he tugs his hands out of his pockets, can picture him fidgeting with them, "Yes?"

"You don't know?" Ronan asks, standing back to his full height and gathering enough courage to look at Adam directly. "You sound a little unsure."

"It's still new," Adam answers, "I haven't gotten used to it yet."

Adam squints at him then, the thoughtful look from the restaurant back in full force. It takes him a few seconds, but it seems he's figured something out, has figured _Ronan _out, because his face smooths. And the transformative smile from earlier is back, brighter and softer then before.

"When did you say my name?" Adam says.

"When I was four years old," Ronan tells him.

Adam laughs, then, says "Why didn't Gansey introduce us sooner?"

"That's sort of my fault," Ronan grimaces, tells Adam about all the other Adam's that Gansey had thrust upon him.

"Well, sorry for having a much more common name than _Ronan_," Adam says, rolls his eyes as he says it.

Months later, they are lying in Adam's bed, both of them spent and content. Ronan traces the word over Adam's side, along his rib-cage, with the tips of his fingers. He likes the way the word looks on Adam's skin, likes even better the juxtaposition of his fingers and Adam's skin.

Likes even better still the hitch in Adam's breathing as he runs his fingers back over the word and down his side.

Ronan looks up at Adam from where he is resting his head on Adam's chest, and grins his shark-like grin. Drags his fingers back up Adam's side, making sure to use his nails this time. The gentle, feather-like touches are gone. Adam hisses, mumbles about how _evil_ his soulmate is, before he tugs Ronan up into a kiss. Ronan's fingers never stray far from Adam's mark, and he refuses to let Adam deepen the kiss until Adam snakes his own arms up around Ronan's back, places his elegant, beautiful, hands on Ronan's mark. 

Ronan feels Adam smile against him while they kiss, so Ronan breaks away to look down at him. Because kissing in great, awesome, amazing, but Adam's smile is somehow even better. Adam gazes back at him, rubs little circles into his shoulder all the while.

"_Ronan_," He says, and its soft and gentle. Ronan want's to always feel the way he does when Adam says his name, precious and well loved.

"_Adam_," Ronan says, and he knows it's just as soft, just as gentle. He knows Adam feels the same way when Ronan says his name as he feels when Adam says his. That knowledge lies warm and comfortable in his chest.

Ronan doesn't think either will ever get tired of saying the other's name.

**Author's Note:**

> But how does saying Gansey work??? Because it's the name he chooses to refer to himself??? I guess???  
Did you hate the ending? Because I sure did!


End file.
